EDITORIAL: This student's 'crime' doesn't merit expulsion

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Sam Schmucker was wrong.

He knows that. His family knows that. The Penn-Delco School Board certainly knows it. So do all those students who showed up at an expulsion hearing last Wednesday night to show support for their friend.

That's no longer what is being so hotly debated in Penn-Delco, where the move by the school board to expel the popular senior has caused a small conflagration. What seems at issue now is how Schmucker should be punished.

Schmucker, the vice president of the senior class, landed in hot water after a confrontation with the director of the school play, "Annie." Schmucker had one of the lead roles of Daddy Warbucks.

"Had" being the key word there.

The director had a run-in with a female member of the cast, who just happens to be Schmucker's girlfriend. "Daddy Warbucks" didn't care for the way his girlfriend was treated. And he told the director so. Voices were raised, Schmucker admits he may have used some colorful language.

He had already crossed the line. He was about to jump off the cliff.

Schmucker put his hands on the director, grabbing him by the shirt collar, and possibly pushing him up against the wall.

Kiss Daddy Warbucks goodbye. Schmucker was stripped of his lead in the production, and rightly so. He also was suspended from school. Again, richly deserved. Both Schmucker, his mother and his supporters are all on board with that. It's what happened next that has sparked cries of protests on his behalf and split the district.

The school board now is mulling whether to permanently expel Schmucker just a couple of months short of his graduation. Schmucker would be able to finish his high school work and receive a Sun Valley diploma with homebound instruction provided by the district. But he could not take part in the prom or walk with his classmates at commencement.

The school board heard testimony at a public hearing last Wednesday night and will convene again to make its ruling known this Wednesday night. In the meantime Schmucker continues to serve his suspension.

And tongues in the district continue to wag.

Ironically, Schmucker was in line to collect his second consecutive American Citizenship Award before the you know what hit the F-Annies in Penn-Delco. He was a member of the debate team, elite choir and prom committee.

That's one side of the story. But rest assured there is another.

This apparently is not Schmucker's first trip down this aisle. Last year he was involved in another incident with a teacher and "made a statement that was absolutely inappropriate," Assistant Superintendent Alexis McGloin told the board at the hearing. So you could say this year's incident was a progression -- he started with verbal fireworks and this year it got worse, with Schmucker getting physical with the director of the school play.

Let's make something else clear here. This isn't about the director of the play. Or any of the teachers. Or even the school board members. This is about Sam Schmucker and what his punishment should be.

The district seems split among those -- Schmucker's family and friends among them -- who believe expulsion is an "over-the-top" reaction to a situation that has been blown out of proportion. More than 70 people showed up at last week's hearing, most of them to support Schmucker, and spoke against the move to expel him.

On the other side are those who believe the school board should stick to its guns and expel Schmucker, that the only thing that is "over-the-top" is the support shown for him and the coverage of the case in the media, including an obvious push by Schmucker, his family, their attorney and his supporters to tell their side of the story. The school board, on the other hand, has played its hand close to the vest. It wasn't even its idea to have last week's hearing be public, but it went along with the wishes of Schmucker and his parents.

Maybe most interesting is the position staked out by a third party, attorney Barry Van Rensler, who represents the district. He asked the board to keep in mind the message it will be sending every student in the district if it backs off from the expulsion now.

"If this was a C student who never got in trouble, but never did any of the activities, are we saying we wouldn't throw him out? Because this student has an A average and a wonderful family and lots of friends and can pay an attorney, he should be different? Consider the message you are sending."

It's exactly the message, the same lament, offered by every unpopular kid in school who has always believed there were two different sets of rules -- one for the "in" group and one for everyone else.

Sam Schmucker has lost plenty -- he's now been suspended for almost three weeks. He was stripped of his prized role as Daddy Warbucks in the school play. He's seen his senior year thrown into disarray.

Schools today face incredibly difficult issues, both financial and social. They face a myriad of serious social problems.

Sam Schmucker doesn't strike us as one of them. We hope he's learned a tough lesson. You don't ever lay your hands on a teacher, or school play director. For that matter you shouldn't be raising your voice and dropping any expletives on them either.

We hope the school board Wednesday night decides not to expel Schmucker, with the caveat that he has used up all his warnings. The next time there will be no argument; he will be out.

Sam Schmucker was wrong. He's paid a price for his action. The school board would not be wrong to stick to its guns and expel him. We just don't think it should.